after they say he shot at them. we're on the scene learning what happened leading up to the gunfire. >> this morning, police are still looking for one suspect in a crime spree across tampa bay targeting older women in parking lots. coming up, i'll tell you just two things you can do so you are not a target. good morning and thank you for starting your day with us on abc action newsp. >> happy st. patrick's day. throw on something green as you take on the day ahead. >> let's go to dublin. look at this where the st. patrick's day celebration is under way at 9:30. >> i've been there, ivan. it is a fun place. [ laughter ] >> 47 degrees right now. we are much warmer and foggier as well, so we'll head over to the traffic center and check in with janelle and that sky way situation. closed. so if that is a route you

leave extra early because the way around is a long way. if you are in the south and going north, you have to take i-75 to tampa, that's your alternate. if you are in pinellas county, you have that take one of the bridges to i-75 to head south. now, i've been checking out the maps to see where else we're seeing fog. that would be the area shaded in yellow. in our area, it's pretty clear, though. the only area i can find is south of sarasota through venice so along the i-75 corridor. you'll want to use those low beams if you run into any fog. ivan, we've been talking about the fog as you saw on the maps, very touchy a little out there. >> absolutely. checking in on the latest conditions.

looking good here right now. visibility is full. so i think this will be a very concentrated fog situation right along portions of the sarasota here as temperatures will continue to be in the low 70s heading into the afternoon. so what have we got going here? well, we've got temperatures back in the 80s as we head through later today. we're going to be climbing up once again as far as humidity as well. it will be sticky as you step outside. we've got two areas of rain and i'll let you know when those arrive. breaking news right now. one of our news crews is talking to investigators after a lan shot at police overnight. >> that suspect is dead right now when police returned fire. we have a live look cherokee avenue in tampa where a forensics team is gathering evidence.

a woman inside called 911. there was some sort of domestic disturbance. >> the man pointed gun at them, abut the gun jammed. he rushed back into the house and pointed the gun this time shield. >> we're still on scene looking say. count on us for live reports throughout the morning. right now, we're going to show you that police are looking for criminals targeting elderly women in parking lots. they caught three people last night. we're live where a 71-year-old was attacked. >> reporter: deiah, it happened in this parking lot. that woman was heading across the street to go to church and

a man asked her for directions and grabbed her purse and threw her on the ground. police say it was this stolen jeep. take a look at it. it was linked to six different purse snatchings across the area. in most cases, the suspect asks for directions, gets close to the woman and grabs the purse. they were all working on the case. one victim tells us she's terrified to go out alone. >> i'm afraid. i'm afraid in the public. i don't know who to trust. i don't know who is approaching me that will harm me or do something to cause me harm. i'm afraid. >> reporter: three of the four suspects were arrested in lake wales.

crimes are pretty common. police are asking women to leave your purses at home or go shopping with a friend. the woman attacked here has a broken wrist and at last check is still in the hospital. again, police are still looking for at least one suspect. we're going to keep you updated online, abcactionnews.com, and social media. ashley yore, abc action news. tampa is set to be the latest city to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. preliminary approval was given two weeks ago for possessing up to 20 grams of marijuana. the idea is not to penalize people with a criminal record that could affect their future. miami beach has a similar ordinance in place already. instead of jail, violators receive fines that start at $70. today, president obama's pick to fill the vic eat supreme court seat will be on

the president nominated judge merrick garland yesterday. garland is expected to meet with democratic senators but senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says he won't even get a hearing. republicans want the next president to choose the next supreme court justice. garland is getting support from democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. sanders calls garland a strong no, ma'am me and argues that refusing to hold hearings would be unprecedented. we have new information about sanders' rival hillary clinton. >> a 2009 request to issue a secured government smartphone to hillary clinton was denied by the national security agency. >> then she started using private e-mail accounts to exchange messages with her top aides. >> the front runner has come under fire and intense scrutiny for her decision to use a private e-mail server to send messages.

the presidential race, the remaining rivals are taking over his endorsements. now a key republican senator is throwing his support behind the long shot campaign of john kasich. the oklahoma senator who had been backing rubio now says he's endorsing kasich. the ohio governor thanked him last night. nikki haley is now backing ted cruz. arguments could begin as soon as today in the hulk logan gawker trial in the sex tape lawsuit. shock jock bubba the love sponge refused to testify and instead sent a lawyer to plead the fifth for him.

web about's ex-wife who says she did not know she was being recorded. >> a 53-year-old man started his 13-year prison sentence for video voyeurism. the father of a 15-year-old girl caught this guy shooting cell phone photos up his daughter's skirt as whitaker drove on a motorized cart past the teen inside of an inverness wal-mart. this morning, we're learning why army sergeant bowe bergdahl left his post in 2009. documents say he left to draw attention to what he saw as leadership problems. his attorneys also released another document showing that an army board evaluation conclude had bergdahl suffered from a personality disorder when he left the post. he faces a general court- martial on charges of discertification and

there are st. patrick's day parties going on across the world. >> if you are not already in the spirit, head downtown for the largest festival that gets under way five hours from now money. >> plenty of corned beef and cabbage and lots of beer flowing until midnight. if you can't make it out today, you have another chance this weekend to celebrate all things irish. ed highlight is seeing the hillsboro river green. making sure you get home safely if you party a little too much.

call a ride service. take the kids downtown for one incredible history lesson. replicas of two of christopher columbus ships are set to dock today. the nina was built by hand without using any power tools. it is also considered to be the most historically correct columbus replica ever built. the two ships will be in the bay area for self-guided tours. >> again, i'm still looking for the santa maria. it's been left out. >> they're working on it. visibility has been reduced to nothing on the sky way bridgep. >> yeah, heavy fog shut down the sunshine sky way. you have to find another way around, and it's a long one. we're checking ought the alternates coming up in a few minutes.

uber driver for a deadly uber driver for a deadly shooting spree in michigan. now the uber driver is blaming you uber, and he wants the company to pay up. >> and baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray. what was just decided that

right now a breaking traffic alert for drivers heads-

closed at this hour because of fog visibility there at or less than 100 feet and just too dangerous for drivers to be on the bridge. alternate routes gentleman nil martinez is working on those for you right now. she'll have an update coming up in a few. this morning, a man charged in a mass shooting in kalamazoo is suing uber. he claims working for uber caused psychological damage. daulton went on a shooting rail page killing six and injuring two others. at the time, he was driving for uber. this morning, we're learning the schedules of the officers charged with the death of freddie gray. officer edward near row's trial is first. he arrested freddie gray who died after suffering a final

breaking news on the sunshine sky way is closed. they closed it around 5:00 this morning due to fog. this is a live picture at the very top of the sunshine sky way. dangerous driving conditions there, which is why we had to shut it down. as you know, it say long way around. if you are heading north, you have to take i-75. if you are in the pinellas county area, you have to take the other three bridges across through tampa. the good news here, all three bridges are running under ten minutes this morning. we'll keep our eye on this and let you know if there are any problems there. elsewhere in the bay area, no crashes or breakdowns to tell you about. typically, when it's foggy out, we see this is running smoothly.

whether they should wait it out or take the long way around. the sunshine sky way, what would do you? >> it's not widespread because of the elevation as well. it's going to be a while before we clear things out. i would follow your advice. we need driverless cars, the google cars and eventually we won't have to deal with that. right now, we are looking at temperatures in the low 70s. with that southwesterly wind keeping the moisture right along the water pulled in across sarasota county. breaking this down for you, here. the fog early this morning. temperatures this afternoon will be back in the low 80s. it should be about 76 this time of year. so another day we cheat the temperatures. we'll do that with a lot of humidity as well. so it will be muggy out there through the afternoon. a dry day on tap for today. tomorrow, a couple of showers across our northern counties. then the timing for this will be friday night and into early

that will be round one for what will eventually be two rounds of rainfall here. friday night and saturday morning with the thunderstorms overnight friday. then saturday night, we rain in. as well. so friday night into saturday night is what i'm looking at here. we're getting close to the temperature where we say good- bye. 40s for overnight lows on monday. it will be chilly because temperatures will be in the 60s. of course we've been used to the 80s. ivan, thank you. more than a dozen u.s. military personnel including special operations forces are being disciplined for the accidental

hospital operated by doctors without borders. none of the punishments, though, include criminal charges. 42 people died in that attack in october. the military admits it was trying to target a taliban command center just 450 yards from the hospital but mistakenly bombed the hospital. they became targeting problems. doctors without borders say they will not comment until those disciplines are made public. today michigan governor rick snyder will be in the hot seat when he testifies about his role in the flint water crisis. snyder blames the failure of government at all levels. state regulators switched flint's water source exposing people who live there to lead- tainted water. children have tested positive for dangerous lead levels in their blood. >> coming up, the next car you buy will be a lot safer or at least that's the hope. we're bringing you the binge changes in auto safety standards.

>> and i know you heard about the humored self-lacing nike shoes.

all right, as you may have heard, we've been following the closure of the sunshine sky way bridge.

across or if you insist on a car, janelle's got the work arounds in a few minutes. there it is. the rest of us will continue as far as the fog for several hours into and after sunrise. we'll get back into the 80s this afternoon. setting the stage for mid-80s across the interior and temperatures in the 07s along the coast. -- in the 70s along the coast. i'm tracking this front that will bring us two rounds of rainfall heading into the weekend. big changes are coming to your car. >> we're talking automatic emergency braking systems. today, national safety regulators will reveal details to make the systems standard in almost all american cars by september 2022.

auto-makers including gm, ford, toyota and honda. automatic emergency brakes help driver as void crashes when they don't apply the brakes or don't push hard enough. this morning, getting a look at nike's first ever self- lacing sneakers. >> nike says when you put your feet in them, your heels will hit a sensor and lets you adjust the fit. they are called hyper adapt. they have a light in the sole of the shoes. by pressing the but ton, it will make it loose or snug. they will be available during the holidays, of course just in time for the holidays. you have to be a member of nike's fitness portal nike plus if you want them. marty mcfly would be so happy. >> right? one less thing we have to do during the day, tie your shoes. we are just a few minutes away from action news at 6:00. >> including a deadly confrontation between tampa police and a man who shot at them.

where our abc action news crew is set up. reporting corey dierdorff joins us live at 6:00 to tell us about the call that brought the suspect face-to-face with the officers and what he did that shoot. >> plus, a big mess left to clean up after a car goes crashing into a home. where the car came from and the

breaking news that happened while you were sleeping. a man who shot at tampa police is dead/. >> i'm deiah riley. >> officers are still at that home on cherokee avenue and say a man fired a gun at them.

what can you tell us. no officers were injured in the exchange. this is the 3300 block of west cherokee avenue, and it's shut down for this investigation. forensic investigators are gathering evidence as well as interviews. we just got new information and here's what we know so far from police. a woman inside of the home called 911 saying there was a domestic disturbance at the home. officers rushed to the scene and were met by an armed man at the front doorway of the house. he then pointed the handgun. we're initially told he pulled the trigger and the gun didn't go off. now we're getting conflicting stories from officers. so we'll have to investigate whether the man pulled the trigger. the man retreated back inside

once again came back outside still armed in a carport area. police had riot shields for their protection. the man for a second time raised the gun. this time pulling the trigger. it hit the officer's riot shield dead center. one officer returned fire striking and killing the man. the officers were lucky this morning. >> i don't know why the gentleman pulled out the gun and fired, but he did. luckily, the shield was there and the officers responded, which they are trained to do. when somebody fires upon you, you have to respond with force. >> reporter: tpd says this was a handgun and police officers were trying to we'll bring you on air and online at